GeezerSue

Good job!! Eventually a three-day fast becomes child's play...really.

Yeah...I've had the same cell phone response from Rumbaut. He once answered my call and the background sounded weird. I asked. He was on a stage in Chicago, making a presentation to other ASBS dudes. I said, "I can call back later." He said, "No! It's not my turn to talk to the audience! Go ahead." I did my research and I "needed" a big city, full-service hospital for my psychic comfort...in addition to the best experience I could buy...so I went to Monterrey. (It was almost four years ago.) But yes, research!!

First, there's about six grams of fat in a medium skinless chicken breast. And, my surgeon used to go out to dinner with his patients the night before surgery...there WAS no pre-op diet in the olden times! LOL Then, and this is the serious part and is NOT meant to be "mean": post-op, you will be on another liquid diet. There will be days (maybe days on end) when you feel just fine and you are SURE that you have to have some solid food or you will die, during the time you are supposed to be on liquids. If you cannot go three days without solid foods now, what makes you think that you will be ready--in a couple of weeks--for this surgery? (Don't get hurt or mad...just think about it.) They won't be doing brain surgery. You will be fighting the same demons post-op, but the difference then will be that you can eat too soon post-op and create problems for yourself. Some people have to go on liquids after each adjustment, even after they have been banded for a long time. It IS tough, no doubt about it. But it is something you should be able to master if you are going to be banded. (You might need more protein--like in drinks from a Jamba juice place--or pills to help...but you need to be able to master this challenge.) Good luck.

jboy--not challenging your veracity, just curious. With all your research, what made Huacuz your first choice in Tijuana? I know that Kuri has been doing this forever, that Inamed has sent numerous cases to him for repair and that the only reason he doesn't proctor is that Mrs. Kuri doesn't like to be left alone while he goes out of town. And, although Ortiz is not my first choice as a person I'd like to hang with, there is no question about his ability to do the surgery. Anyway, I've been on these boards for about four years and Huacuz is one of "the lesser gods" so to speak in the Tijuana area, in terms of fame and all. I'm curious about what made that facility/doctor rise to the top in your book, especially since you have done more recent research.

Your English is great. Ya nee gavaru po Ruski. There was a time I could actually carry on a BIT of a conversation, but these days...Ya nee gavaroo. My German is...well...ich habe keine ahnung. But last time I was there I could still order a meal and all. Then again, last time I was there EVERYONE spoke English, so maybe I just THOUGHT I was speaking German. I did live there a while. I have survival skills in Spanish and because of that can ALMOST function in Italy. I once tried Japanese and as soon as I discovered that I had to learn four alphabets--Hiragana, Katagana, Kanji and Romaji--it was time to find the guy who bought used books! LOL But I still remember Lesson One and how to say important stuff like, "This is a book" and "that is a pencil."

Sa wa dee. But how the hell did you get the sanscrit font?

That's my partial list of stuff I could NEVER eat while banded. Dry, white meat chicken and dry beef and potatoes, pasta, pizza...PLUS raisins, breads, bread crumbs IN things (like meatballs or crab cakes), pancakes, waffles, leafy greens (as in most salads)...all that and more would plug me--and a lot of people--right up. Stewed chicken, baked or other moist fish...THAT kind of thing was always easier. Welcome and good luck, Sue

I told my hairdresser that I wanted to go back to my natural color(s)--mostly grey--because post-op from my DS I'd lose hair. She disagreed...said it's an urban legend. I went for my DS..and SHE went for a revision on breast reconstruction (cancer survivor). We BOTH lost hair and now she's a believer. (I also had hair fallout with my band and my abdominoplasty and the breast reduction. But way more with the DS because of the malabsorption post-op.) (I've just started taking Biotin and folic acid because the only time in my life I had decent nails was when I was on prenatal Vitamins. I asked my DS surgeon--a new daddy, so he's up on these things--what was in them that wasn't in the regular vitamins and he said biotin and folate. I'll let you know if it works.)

Do NOT use a "bulking" laxative. It can plug up the stoma requiring surgery to clear out the ball of bulk it creates. Water. Maybe Colace...

I hear you...I didn't go to Tijuana, even though both Kuri and Ortiz are more-than-qualified surgeons. The reason was not the doctors, but I had respiratory problems and I wanted to be in a hospital that was set up to deal with that and probably had a pulmonolgist standing there or with an office across the street. In Monterrey, with Rumbaut, I was in a full-service hospital, which was what I needed to feel safe. OTOH, a lot of experienced nurses were very comfortable with Kuri's old little place, which was kind of scary for me.

A few years back, when I was going to Ortiz for adjustments, I told him that what people who were banded out of the country needed was a chain of places to go for adjustments and that some smart doctor would set that up. You don't suppose he actually listened? He and his pal Grossbard are two of the three "advisory staff" and the only California Fill Center I see is in Ortiz's backyard in Cardiff...so I'm just sayin'... Anyway, the fill centers are being marketed--among other things--as a way for the person doing the adjustments to make $150/hour. So there will be--like in ANY line of work--those who are doing it because they love it...and those who are doing it because they have rent to pay. http://www.aftercareprovider.com/2_life_for_yourself.html#howmuch

Misfortune...I'm sorry that you had a bad experience in Mexico, but as I just wrote on another thread, my friend had her health permanently screwed-up by a surgeon in the US (in Wisconsin.) I don't think anyone should jump from that information to the idea that it's too dangerous to have the LapBand placed in Mexico OR in the US. (And we had a major kidnapping in L.A. this week and the baby was taken to Houston. Some people might think that we shouldn't let our kids be here?) There are uncaring physicians working out of filthy dumps all over the world...and there are caring physicians working in sanitary facilities all over the world. Don't blame the location, blame the bad guy.

I have a little experience with some of these issues. Back in the olden times, when I was banded, Quebbeman--who is just down the street--had placed someplace between 30 and 50 LapBands and charged about $30,000. Rumbaut had done about 1400 and charged $10,000. I had the $10,000 and I had the $30,000. If I had thought I was taking any chance at all, I'd have written a bigger check. But if I can buy a good product/service for a third of the price from someone who has 3500% more experience, it isn't just the money that's calling my name. I went to Rumbaut and think he's a wonderful surgeon and a caring guy. Hell, he hooked me up with his endodontist because I needed an emergency root canal...and he got me in post-op when her office was closed for a conference...he's a mensch. If I had an MO child who was debating where she should go, I'd send her to Rumbaut WAY before I'd send her to half the doctors on Inamed's current list. (That doesn't include Quebbemann; he is now very experienced.) And that's because I've been to a couple of the newbies and some of them have done fifteen bands or thirty and I actually think I've read more publications regarding the topic than they have...and they just don't cut it FOR ME. And, I have a friend who was banded in Wisconsin. That US surgeon damaged her diaphragm, and she has had several follow-up surgeries and even had the band removed, and is STILL in pain. Based on her experience, we COULD say that having band surgery in the US is dangerous. But it just isn't good logic to take one--or a few--good or bad experiences and then assume that that experience can be generalized to the population at large. willbethin--you had a bad experience and, apparently, a suck doctor...and talking about that makes all the sense in the world. But to assume that there is something wrong with Mexican surgeons in general just doesn't fly..unless we get to say that, because a doctor in Wisconsin screwed up my friend's surgery, it's too dangerous to have surgery in the US.

What everybody--mostly Elizabeth--says, but adding... I was also sure I did not have sleep apena. Imagine my surprise when on a machine that scaled from 1-20, I needed a setting of 18. That's pretty close to maxing out the current technology... Anyway, I have a Bi-PAP machine. It's a CPAP that assists you with one level of pressure on inhaling and a different level of pressure on exhaling. I'm ashamed to admit that I stopped using it and I NEED to go for another STUPID test or just have the techs keep lowering the settings...because with my BMI changing from about 49 to about 35, the current settings about blow me out of the room. OOOHHHHH!!! The purpose of all this is that sleep apnea can kill you. Essentially, your heart's lack of oxygen sends an "emergency alert" to the brain which then jolts you into breathing. The body is not built to do this on a regular basis. And, after years of receiving too many of these signals, the brain will stop "listening" and not send the message and you stop breathing and die. And sleep apnea on someone under or coming out of general anesthesia is a really bad idea. Because the message to breathe doesn't get sent or received very well when we're drugged up. And...even though a lot of skinny people DO have sleep apnea, a very high percentage of the morbidly obese have it...so we are prime candidates for that testing.

mrclaf, Except for the initial study done for the FDA, each bit of research is specific to the the particular practice doing the work and writing the reports. I don't think there are any "meta-studies" showing what all of that work altogether shows. And, to complicate matters, a recent publication involving a very well-known band doctor--Santiago Horgan in Chicago--says "Often, confusion exists among surgeons regarding the denomination or even the treatment of these two different entities." [The two different entities being discussed are pouch enlargement and slippage.] IN THAT PRACTICE, they found that "A total of 1,600 barium swallows were performed with 516 patients. As a result, pouch enlargement was diagnosed for 61 patients (12%) and band slippage for 12 patients (2%)." Here's a link to the abstract of that publication. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=16703439&query_hl=8&itool=pubmed_docsum

What Jacqui said, I think. Except that steak would have been difficult for me, except when mostly unfilled AND unless it was a really good filet mignon or prime rib...but a New York or such would have been too "stringy" for me. You wrote, "BUT...if I eat soft foods like cottage cheese, yogurt, soup, refried Beans, etc I can eat a LOT! They don't stay in my pouch at all and run right through." That's right. Those are the foods that DO NOT help you lose weight with the band, precisely because they DO move on through. I think that if someone is "getting full" on three bites of these foods, they have have a band that is too tight or another problem. Have you considered stuff like stewed dark meat chicken, or nuked or baked fish, or meatball-type stuff (without a lot of breadcrumbs in the meatball mix), other meat that is cooked for a very long time and it's still "solid" but not tough enough to plug things up?

Linda, What Penni said, but do it even faster, if you can. MOST post-op port site irritations are nothing. But the ones that are "something" can linger...it's best to have professional care right away. Sue

Hey, Biker Grammy... Welcome aboard. I'm part of the "formerly banded" contingency, but I DO remember that second week. I've got no good news for you about the BITING part of your request, but by next week or so you ought to be able to down a Wendy's Chili. Meanwhile, keep the liquids and the Proteins going, and know that this time will pass! Sue

SherriJo, I posted on your other thread about a doctor who is essentially the same price (last I checked) as Mexico and WAY closer to home for you. But, like Penni says, Inamed has a list. Be prepared to hear a lot of them say that they don't do adjustments on other doctor's patients or on people who were banded elsewhere or some similar thing. But eventually, you'll find someone.

Have you looked into Jaime Ponce, in Dalton, GA. Not as far away as Mexico...and last time I checked--like a couple of years ago, his prices were VERY reasonable. Most importantly, he is VERY experienced.

That is just so pathetic. I am fortunate that I never heard or saw such a response to me--although it may have occurred and escaped my attention. My response would have depended on whether I was more humiliated or angered by their behavior toward a stranger who had done them no harm. I do suspect that, had I been more angered, my response would have been vile and focused on how I perceived their relationship with each other...and perhaps each other's moms...but who knows. (If humiliated, I'd have probably slinked out crying...but that would have required that I actually cared about their opinion of me and I generally don't care what morons think of me...regardless of my size. They are, after all, morons.)

Thank you from THIS veteran!

He's changing? Rumbaut has traditionally placed the band at the sternum. (Other band doctors have looked confused and then said, "Oh, yeah...Rumbaut...") LOL That's where he put mine and it was never a problem.

Mary, I think you need to hook up with la madam, Michelle. She is holding her own after banding and has always been an inspiration around here. Have you met her?

desertmom...I had that same obscure surgery...and it IS weird. I don't know what makes which surgery work for which people, but if I did...I could get rich, I'm sure. Like your cousin, I MOSTLY (at six months) know what to eat and what not to eat. I am MOSTLY able to avoid eating stuff that will keep me earning loo-frequent-flyer-miles. I was seldom rebellious when I first got the band...and when I WAS, the immediate result was, "Pardon me while I go rexamine what I swallowed a moment ago..." But as I developed physical problems, that limited my choices, which I then resented (because I HAD been successful with the band, but now the rules were getting stricter and the results were diminishing) and that's how I regained on a mostly Soup and ice cream diet. I don't know that we need to cheer or boo any of our surgeries. To tell the truth. My second wls did not come with any guarantees, either. "We pays our money and we takes our chances." Psychologically, for me, there is a difference between Plan A--"if I eat that now, I will have to leave the table and barf it up in a matter of minutes" and Plan B-- "if I eat that now, I may have FIVE bathroom trips tomorrow morning." In both cases there are choices to be made...and the consequences of making "the lesser choice" are not good. But for some reason, I feel less controlled and the choices are easier FOR ME with Plan B. With Plan A, I feel that my control over my life has been taken away. So banded, I'd order (for example) the hamburger and not eat the bread and resent not eating the bread. So far, with the DS, I order the hamburger, eat a bite or two of the bread and then eat around it and feel less controlled. (And then there are SOME days that I just want that freakin' bread...and I'm willing to pay the price. But I guess that's better--so far, anyway, than taking up gambling with the retirement fund and all.) You pose good questions. Don't stop. Sue